Kahles 328i ZCO

I was dead set on another 420 ZCO
But has anyone had a chance to play with the new Kahles 328i?
The field of view is huge.
I'm guessing with the optical changes there's even less CA than the 525i.
I absolutely loved my 525's. Honestly more so than my ZCO. Shocker to some like Lance I'm sure
Anyhow, just wanting to see if anyone has any experience.

Out of the 4 525's I've owned, I've never once had an issue. So keep the tracking and durability comments to a minimum here.

I looked through one. Seemed clearer than my K318i on same magnification. FOV seems on par with the March FX 3.5-28×52WA, but I didn't have mine with me to directly compare. Definitely a great scope. Retail price is way up there, though. Actually a tick more than the ZCO 527. But I think it is a great option in that top echelon of optics. I am happy to see a few more true Alpha glass coming to the market. Especially from Kahles.

I like my K318i just fine, especially for the $2k price tag I paid.

It doesn't cut the mustard compared to my ZCO420. But for 60% of the price, can't go wrong and I am keeping it.

First 3 shots of the day Saturday morning on a bowling pin steel at 842 all connected. Hard to argue with that.

lancetkenyon said:

I looked through one. Seemed clearer than my K318i on same magnification. FOV seems on par with the March FX 3.5-28×52WA, but I didn't have mine with me to directly compare. Definitely a great scope. Retail price is way up there, though. Actually a tick more than the ZCO 527. But I think it is a great option in that top echelon of optics. I am happy to see a few more true Alpha glass coming to the market. Especially from Kahles.

I like my K318i just fine, especially for the $2k price tag I paid.

It doesn't cut the mustard compared to my ZCO420. But for 60% of the price, can't go wrong and I am keeping it.

First 3 shots of the day Saturday morning on a bowling pin steel at 842 all connected. Hard to argue with that.
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Man. I always appreciate your optics knowledge and information. Huge help thanks.

@lancetkenyon that's the other thing. I don't know if I'm OK paying more for the 328 over the ZCO. I've spend a solid year with the 420 and love it. Just prefer the Kahles controls I guess. I also feel like the 420 is **** near indestructible.
And with Huber and Gebhart running the show, there's probably not any better customer service.

Would really like to spend an hour with the 328

I've had zco and now the kahles 328i. Nothing wrong with the zco but I like the kahles better. FOV is great, love the controls on the kahles too. The glass is a definite improvement, low light is its specialty, beat a 56mm zeiss I had. I went with the skmr + reticle so the upper half is less busy, which I prefer. Have it on my 30 SM right now. It's been solid. Weight is almost 37oz but somehow balances well on my rifle.

The biggest thing I dislike on Kahles is the parallax ring up on the elevation turret. I have shot left side parallax for so long, find myself reaching over there as a well-engrained habit.
I think the ZCO (and the TT for sure) have a more forgiving parallax setting. Anything over 300-350ish, there is no adjustment needed.

Ed AO said:

I've had zco and now the kahles 328i. Nothing wrong with the zco but I like the kahles better. FOV is great, love the controls on the kahles too. The glass is a definite improvement, low light is its specialty, beat a 56mm zeiss I had. I went with the skmr + reticle so the upper half is less busy, which I prefer. Have it on my 30 SM right now. It's been solid. Weight is almost 37oz but somehow balances well on my rifle.

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At 37 oz you might as well get a ZCO 527, there's no way the 420 model has the same clarity, assuming that's the one you're comparing to the 328.

7.62 Gunner said:

At 37 oz you might as well get a ZCO 527, there's no way the 420 model has the same clarity, assuming that's the one you're comparing to the 328.

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The 527 zco doesn't have the FOV that I was after, I could live with the 420 FOV, but prefer more. Have you looked through the 328i scope? The improvement comment which I guess I didn't clarify was pertaining to the kahles 525 glass. At 37oz I'd still rather have the Kahles than the 527 zco. The glass could be better(not saying it's not), but id have to have them side by side. I like the Kahles controls better regardless.

Ed AO said:

The 527 zco doesn't have the FOV that I was after, I could live with the 420 FOV, but prefer more. Have you looked through the 328i scope? The improvement comment which I guess I didn't clarify was pertaining to the kahles 525 glass. At 37oz I'd still rather have the Kahles than the 527 zco. The glass could be better(not saying it's not), but id have to have them side by side. I like the Kahles controls better regardless.

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I have not looked through the new kahles but I run a zco 527 on my match rifle and it's truly above and beyond. I also have the March FX 4.5-28 with the wide angle lense and I don't feel the FOV is much better than the ZCO.

I'll put it this way, in a prs or nrl match you need to be able to find and engage scattered targets fast.
I run the zco at about 18-20x and don't touch the zoom or parallax the entire match, and that works for targets from 300-1100 yards.

I own every ZCO and have owned the higher end Kahles except for this new one and the glass on them is not as good as ZCO's. Build quality also seems cheap in comparison and edge blurriness was also worse. Also not a fan of having 1 of my optics being different than every other optic I have ever owned as well as my friends. Right side windage is dumb as well as the parallax being in the elevation turret.